Saturday night in Austin, Texas, featured a high-stakes matchup between two bubble teams — Oklahoma and Texas — both desperate for a win that could solidify their NCAA Tournament hopes.
After 20 minutes of play, the game was deadlocked at 37-37. Two key bench players, along with Brycen Goodine, stepped up for Oklahoma in the first half. Glenn Taylor Jr. led the way with 10 points, while Luke Northweather added 7 in extended minutes, filling in for the injured Sam Godwin. Goodine also chipped in 7 points.
That first half set the stage for arguably the most important 20 minutes of Porter Moser’s four-year tenure at Oklahoma. The Sooners had to find a way to grind out a road win—and their first victory over Texas in the Moser era.
For the first 16 minutes of the second half, neither team could gain separation, though Oklahoma maintained a slim lead. But with 3:47 left, Texas reclaimed the advantage, 66-65, capitalizing on a four-minute scoring drought from the Sooners.
Then, Jeremiah Fears stepped up, knocking down two free throws to put Oklahoma back in front. Duke Miles followed with a tough jumper through contact, converting the and-one to extend the lead to 70-66 with 2:42 remaining.
On the next possession, Goodine drilled a huge three-pointer, pushing the Sooners’ lead to 73-67. Jordan Pope responded with a layup to trim the deficit to four with 1:11 left. Texas had two chances at the rim but couldn’t convert, leading to Fears sinking two clutch free throws to make it 75-69 with 16.6 seconds to play.
Pope answered with a three-pointer at the 6.2-second mark, cutting the lead to just three. Despite missed free throws from Miles, Goodine came up with a steal and hit a free throw to seal the deal, giving Oklahoma a 76-72 victory in Austin.
The win snapped the Sooners’ eight-game losing streak against Texas and put them in a strong position to secure their first NCAA Tournament bid under Moser.
NOTES
– With Godwin out due to a knee injury, Mohamed Wague made his first start as a Sooner but played just 13 minutes due to foul trouble. With Wague in foul trouble, it was Northweather who stepped up, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds in 22 minutes on a perfect 4-4 from the field.
In the front court, the Sooners also used more small ball with Taylor, who scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting from the field and a perfect 2-2 from behind the arc. Between Northweather, Taylor, and Kobe Elvis — who played 27 minutes, scored 5 points, and had five assists with zero turnovers — the Sooners got good production from their bench.
– It was a poor shooting night from the field for Fears, as he went 2-14 from the field and 0-4 from deep. Still, he totaled 13 points thanks to 9-10 shooting from the free throw line. Additionally, he had four assists and turned it over just twice in 30 minutes of play.
– It was Goodine who led the team in scoring, totaling 14 points and four rebounds on 5-10 shooting from the field and 3-7 from behind the arc. He recorded two steals and a block, one of those steals coming in the final minutes of the game.
The three-pointer that Goodine drilled to give Oklahoma a six-point lead with a little over a minute left was the biggest shot of the game and huge for the Sooners.
– Miles and Moore both finished in double figures, marking the fifth and sixth Sooners to do so. Miles had 11 points and four rebounds on 3-9 shooting from the field, 2-6 from deep, and 3-5 from the free throw line. The and-one shot he made at the rim was big for Oklahoma.
Moore ended with 10 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes of play. He was 2-7 from the field, 0-3 from deep, and 6-6 from the free throw line.
– The Sooners shot 23-58 (39.7%) from the field and 8-24 (33.3%) from behind the arc, marking a poor shooting night, but ultimately, they were still able to pull out the win.
– Texas’ leading scorer, Tre Johnson, had an extremely quiet night, scoring just 7 points on 0-14 from the field. It was Pope who led them in scoring, totaling 21 points and four rebounds on 7-10 shooting from the field and 4-6 from deep.
– The Sooners, now at 19-12 (6-12), will be the 14-seed and face Georgia (11-seed) in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. CT. Should they win, they’d face Kentucky (6-seed) on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. CT.
– This win puts Oklahoma in a really good spot, making them likely in the field of 68, but a win over Georgia on Wednesday night would push them to lock status. Nonetheless, they had to have this game, and they got it.
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